How Not to be an Arrogant Toerag
by PuddingIsMyPatronus
Summary: On a chilly night, Harry is up screaming, and Lily has to get him back to sleep. Desperately, she reads him an odd book she found off the shelf, with an interesting author, her husband. Rated T for later chapters.


This is going to be my first multi-chapter fanfiction so, I'm not sure how it will work out.

I hope you enjoy it, and as always I don't own these characters or certain bits of text. The amazing J K Rowling does.

Please read, and review! Constructive Criticism is welcome.

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><p>A piercing scream echoed into the small home on Godric's Hallow dulling down into the sobbing of a young child. Green eyes blinked open, the grogginess of just waking up made her surrounding area blurry. But, she knew exactly where she was.<p>

Moonlight filtered through the thin curtains, it was even brighter due to the thick snow outside. It had taken ages to get to sleep with all the light entering her room. Her desperate tries to get rest was futile. When she actually got to sleep, she was plagued with nightmares of the Dark Lord, and when she didn't she was busy changing diapers.

The cry became louder, and didn't seem like it would stop any time soon. Lily sighed loudly, and turned on her side, looking her her husband. "James." She mumbled, lightly shaking the limp body. He could sleep through anything. "James!" She said a bit louder.

He sat up, startled and exhausted. "What?" He asked, reaching for his wand. "Are we under attack? Where's Harry?" He asked, not completely there.

"No, it's nothing like that. Harry's bawling. Will you go check on him? Please? I got up with him almost three hours ago, and it took ages to get him back to sleep."

James flopped back down on the bed, and pulled the blanket over him, "Lils, you can take care of it, I'm exhausted." Within second, the man was asleep, and with the new position, he started snoring slightly.

Lily stared at him for a moment before sitting up. There was no hope in getting him up, James didn't seem to comprehend the fact she needed sleep, and lately she had been getting very little of it. She ran her hands through her already messy hair, and pushed it out of her face. She stood up, shivering trailing down her spine as the cold floor chilled her to the core. The light house jacket she kept laid on nightstand, she snatched it up, and pulled it on. It matched her floral nightgown. Her night shoes where no where to be found, so she had to brave the chilliness of the floor.

Soft steps pitter-pattered against the wood floor, she barely shut her door as she left the room. It was more to save her the hassle of pulling the heavy door shut than to save her husband the noise.

Harry's crying grew louder, adding on to a starting headache that built itself in the temple of her head. She massaged one side as she pushed the door open.

It was ice cold in the nursery. Lily saw her breathe, and shuddered. The window was open. She was sure that she hadn't left it that way. Had she? Maybe, in her attempts to get to bed she got her son sick because she forgot to close a blasted window. Lily rushed to the window, and slammed it down. Oh, poor Harry! Lily grabbed the small child as the screaming continued.

"Shhh. It's okay, Harry. I'm so sorry, baby. I'll warm you up." She promised as she made her way into the living room, and sat Harry in a little bouncy chair. If it wasn't for the fact she had her wand on her at all times, Lily would have been left to start a fire from scratch. Once it started, Harry's cries calmed down, but he was wide awake.

Lily gathered him in her arms, and sat down on the couch with him. "You're so cold." She mumbled, angry at herself. Anyone could have gotten in the window! Well, in truth, they couldn't. But, it didn't stop Lily from yelling at herself while she rocked Harry back and forth, trying to get him back to sleep.

Instead of falling into that subconscious bliss that the red-head wished for herself, Harry laid there and wiggled around in her arms, attempting to play.

"What do you want?" She asked, her eyes drooping. She just wanted to sleep. Harry grinned, all of his two teeth that were coming in showed as he pointed towards to bookshelf. The boy wanted a story. Lily groaned, but decided if it got him to sleep, she'd deal with it. She got off the couch, holding Harry tightly to her chest as she searched the bookshelf for a story adequate for a young child. He had been read all of his books in his room hundreds of times. They grew boring quick.

Out of the blue, Lily noticed a book she didn't know was there. It was leather bound, and sat there at the very top. On tip-toe, she reached it and pulled it down. It seemed new, she sat down on the couch with Harry, and opened the book.

There was no author. No publish date. Just neat scrawl that started on the page.

Lily cocked an eyebrow, but decided to read it anyway. She glanced at Harry, who snuggled up to her breast, comfortably. She maneuvered her arms around the boy, and held him closer.

Her voice cracked as she started reading the story left for someone by some unknown author. It started at a scene all too familiar to her.

" "Leave him alone!" she shouted, her hair was a red as her face. Lily clutched her wand tightly, and waved it at us. Never in my life did I see Lily Evans that pissed.

We were having harmless fun, we did this all the time.

"Evans, don't make me hex you." I would have never done that, maybe a disarming spell to keep her from killing me. But, never hurting her.

"Take the curse off him, then!" She yelled.

I don't know how I convinced myself to do it, but a pissed Lily was a scary Lily. I turned back to him, "There you go." I muttered rolling my eyes at the pathetic grease ball. "You're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus." How lucky he was. If it wasn't for her, the torture would have been worse. He should not have been poking around the same areas we inhabited, he should have found that out by now.

"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!"

"Fine, I won't bother in the future. And I'd wash your pants if I were you, _Snivellus._"

"Apologize to Evans!" I screamed.

"I don't want you to make him..."

Harry, I'll stop there, because your mum says some pretty nasty stuff to me, and walked away. But, when you get this, I want you know I was a prat. A big prat that deserved to be cursed as many times as I cursed Sniv- Severus. I made a lot of mistakes at Hogwarts, Harry. Finding your mum wasn't one of them. I made you this book, so you can try to avoid to be, as your mother but it, "an arrogant toerag". This is my account of life at Hogwarts.

Harry, when you get there. I swear you'll love it. "

Lily stopped reading as the scrawl on the page ended. She didn't turn the next page. Instead she sighed, and shook her head before shutting the book, and looking down at a dreaming infant.

She bit at her lip and got off of the couch, taking Harry to his bedroom, along with the book. James obviously didn't want her to read it. Otherwise she would have found it ages ago. Once Harry was covered and tucked in tightly with blankets, she slid the book at the back of his bookshelf, to read on another night like this.

Her feet felt like dead weight as she managed her way back to her bedroom. She fell into bed, and stared at James back as he slept soundly. When did he have the time to write that? She hadn't a clue. It was a project she hadn't been aware of. She yanked the blankets up, and curled into a ball as sleep fell upon her. Her dreams swam with memories of her old best friend.


End file.
